Ex-FalconStor CEO dies in apparent suicide

The former CEO of FalconStor Software, a data storage firm, died Monday night in an apparent suicide at his Glen Head home just half a year after he was honored by the Long Island Technology Hall of Fame as the entrepreneur of the year.

ReiJane Huai died after what Newsday and The New York Post both described as an “apparent suicide.”

“It’s being investigated as an apparent suicide,” Detective Vincent Garcia, a spokesman for the Nassau County Police, said. “We don’t comment on a suicide unless it was in a public place. This was at a private residence.”

The New York Post reported that Huai died of a gunshot to his chest at about 9 a.m. near a Mercedes-Benz SUV parked in the driveway and that a note was found, but didn’t outline contents. Nassau County police didn’t confirm any of these details.

Roman Kichorowsky, a FalconStor spokesman, released a written statement from the company, expressing admiration for the former CEO of the Melville-based firm.

“It is with great sorrow that we received the news of ReiJane Huai’s death today. Rei served as FalconStor’s president and CEO for many years,” he said. “He was a visionary and a leader, and he was admired and respected by a great many people. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the Huai family during this extremely difficult time. And we ask that everyone respect the family’s need for privacy in their bereavement.”

Huai, a native of Taiwan, became among the area’s most successful high tech innovators and business people.

The Long Island Technology Hall of Fame last year selected Huai, at the time FalconStor CEO, for its Entrepreneur Award for “his accomplishments and contribution to the Long Island business community.” Huai also was inducted into The Long Island Technology Hall of Fame.

He resigned from FalconStor last September after disclosing improper payments made in connection with licensing of FalconStor software to a customer.

The company, the New York County District Attorney, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission each began investigations. None has released results of these investigations.

Two class actions lawsuits also were filed against FalconStor last year, charging that Huai and the company made false statements and improper payments to a customer.

Huai has long been known as one of the most successful high-tech entrepreneurs on Long Island, building companies with groundbreaking products later licensed to some of the world’s biggest firms.

“You can’t just develop for development’s sake. You have to have some vision,” Huai told LIBN last March after being named entrepreneur of the year. “You have to have good predictions. It takes some time to develop a product. You have no idea how many other entrepreneurs are out there in San Francisco, Colorado working on the same solution. If you fail to anticipate, you’ll fail.”

One comment

In some oriental cultures if one disgraces the family name by doing a dishonorable of illegal act the only way he can redeem his lost honor and remove the family’s disgrace is for the offender to commit suicide. The stigma is then removed from the surviving family’s members for ever. If that was his motive his intent was honorable. If it was tied to insurance or company stock benefits it was dishonorable. I do not know of any life insurance that pays off if the insured commits suicide. Anyone know otherwise?

About the Author

Claude Solnik covers healthcare, finance, and technology/energy for Long Island Business News.